[Black man reading newspaper by candlelight] – Vintage Print
![[Black man reading newspaper by candlelight] — historic drawing](https://images.jameslantos.com/img/b7/b71b38a5b524-L.webp)
(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)
Description
Few images capture their era like this historic drawing of [Black man reading newspaper by candlelight]. Sourced directly from the Library of Congress, it represents an authentic piece of documented history.
Framed, it is ready for the wall; unframed, it is ready for the frame you choose. It brings character to any room and makes a memorable gift. Free shipping in the lower 48 states. Snapshots of the Past, founded in 2001, has served tens of thousands of customers worldwide.
[Black man reading newspaper by candlelight]
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A watercolor drawing dated around 1863 shows a Black man seated indoors, reading a newspaper by the glow of a candle. The year places the scene during the Civil War, when newspapers carried news of battles, emancipation, and the fate of enslaved and freed people, so the act of reading the paper carries weight beyond the domestic moment. The work sits in the Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs collection and belongs to a small body of mid-century images that depicted Black literacy and home life, a subject that challenged the racist assumptions of the period.
| Medium | 1 drawing : watercolor. |
|---|---|
| Notes | [ca. 1863] |
| Subjects | African Americans--Domestic life--1860-1870. Reading--1860-1870. Interiors--1860-1870. |
| Source | Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division |
| Original scan | 1,143 × 1,446 px · prints to 4 × 5 in at 300 dpi |
| Reference | AMZ-SOTP-HPA-216554 |
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